[StBernard] Some in Katrina-trashed town seek trailers

[Westley Annis]

Some in Katrina-trashed town seek trailers 
Staff and agencies
08 August, 2006




By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago 

CHALMETTE, La. - It has been 11 months since Hurricane Katrina hit and
Janice Tambrella still does not have a home. She doesn't even have a trailer
of her own. 

Nearly 1,200 St. Bernard Parish families are still waiting to get into
trailers that sit locked on their home sites but need utilities or other
services; another 400 families waiting for trailers have none at all, FEMA
said. 

St. Bernard Parish President Henry "Junior" Rodriguez is often the one
people ask for help. While he doesn't have the authority to get them
trailers, they've figure it's worth asking him since countless calls to the
Federal Emergency Management Agency have failed to help. 

In this parish adjoining New Orleans, virtually no one was spared massive
flooding from storm surge and breaks in the flood control system; all but a
handful of the 27,000 homes belonging to mostly working-class residents were
inundated with water. Almost none are yet repaired. 

"If you look at the sheer numbers, we've been very successful," he said. 

Clarence and Rosemary Balgio, an elderly disabled couple, can no longer
afford the rent for an apartment in another town where they've been living. 

Their son, Donald Balgio, and his sister have tried to help the Social
Security -dependent couple navigate the paperwork needed to keep rental aid
and get a trailer. So far, they've either received conflicting advice or
have been promised help that never materializes. 

Meanwhile, other people in the parish and region say they're having trouble
getting rid of trailers they no longer need. 

"They keep calling and want to inspect propane lines, and I say, 'No. Don't
come on my property. Take it away,'" Acosta said. 

But in some cases, Rodriguez is doing just that, even though it's illegal.
When warned by a FEMA official that he could get in trouble, the blunt,
profanity-prone leader challenged the agency to jail him. 

"We're not like New Orleans. We don't have alternate places for them to
live," said Rodriguez, noting that at least 20 percent of New Orleans was
spared flooding while none of his parish was. 

He recently had an unused trailer picked up from the property of someone who
no longer wanted it and had it taken to Jack and Mary Badinger's home. 

The disabled couple - she's blind and he lost part of a foot in an
industrial accident - had been trying to get a trailer since shortly after
the storm so they could begin working on their house, which was flooded and
slicked by oil. 

"I called probably every week," said Mary Badinger. "Everybody you talked
to, no one knew nothing." 

___ 

On the Net: 

FEMA: http://www.fema.gov 

St. Bernard Parish: http://www.sbpg.net 

C 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.